FTB S2: EP 1 - Neringa
by maxrpg
Summary: Our team goes back to work after the Stargate became public knowledge and Sam unlocks some of the secrets of the Stargate operating code which in turn sends our team on a trip through space where they make an amazing find but tragic consequences for a member of the team.
1. Unlocked

**A/N**: Welcome to my new series of "Fade to Black". I'm going to call it series 2.

This series will focus on a story that will take us on a journey of discovery, catching up with old friends and making some new ones. We will also see the rise of a powerful force from the very distant past as well as learn more about the Ancient races of the alliance and how different they are now compared to when they first met.

* * *

**Fade to Black - Series 2 - Episode 1**

**\- - Neringa - -**

* * *

Several months have passed since the violent event in Egypt, when the cult of Tum-Ex-Ra took control of the Great Pyramid and activated an Ancient device to bring about the rebirth of their God they set in motion a chain of events that would change the world forever.

The world leaders spoke in conference and came to the conclusion that a powerful energy beam coming from within the Great Pyramid was a threat and it had to be dealt with swiftly, they called upon the U.S.S Daedalus that was in Earth orbit at the time for assistance, it was by no means an easy decision to make but it had to be done.

Colonel Caldwell took command and ordered the strike on the Pyramid, a low level Asgard beam hit and completely destroyed the Pyramid in a matter of seconds, unfortunately nearly a hundred civilians were in the blast area at the time and 97 men, women and children lost their lives that day, it was a day that Caldwell and indeed the world will never forget.

In the days following the Egypt incident, which was captured by a camera crew filming a documentary and subsequently broadcast on every major news network, the entire world were demanding answers and no longer will they be duped or fed stories and lies, after months of heated discussions and now with the full cooperation of the world leaders the Stargate program, technology and off-world events past and present have been shared with the world with the exception of the location of the Stargate and the identities of SGC personnel which have not been released for security reasons.

When the information was made public it had the expected reactions, most were shocked at finding out they're not alone in the universe but had faith in their governments and Stargate personnel to do the right thing and continue to protect them from otherworldly threats as they have done so for more than twenty years, others did not agree, riots broke out in cities worldwide, some demanding the Stargate be destroyed, some demanding those responsible for the deaths in Egypt be brought to justice, others committed acts of terrorism on military facilities across the globe.

The world has changed over the last several months, peace has largely been restored and although many people still have suspicions, fears and concerns, they have got on with their lives, people still work, children still go to school, businesses are still open and trading as normal, life goes on.

The revelation that we are not alone in the universe has also seen many wealthy individuals come forward and offer financial assistance, billions of dollars have now been invested in the Stargate Program, some chose to remain anonymous while others offered financial backing in exchange for being allowed access to any non-lethal alien technology obtained during off-world missions.

The Stargate remains active and SG teams continue to explore the galaxy.

* * *

**Stargate Command**

* * *

Sam is heavily pregnant and should be taking it easy but she isn't the type of person to just sit around doing nothing all day. After firmly refusing several attempts by Jack and the General to get her on maternity leave she remains on active duty but in a limited capacity, limited to working only on base, which seems to please everyone and none of them want to argue with her, especially after having their heads bitten off a few times during her mood swings.

She is in the infirmary at Stargate Command for her latest check-up and sitting on the edge of a bed as Dr Lam examines her.

"Oh-woh." says Sam, flinching for a moment after feeling the ice cold metal of the stethoscope being pressed on to her chest.

Dr Lam removes it and exhales warm air on to it before placing it back, "Sorry.", she listens to her heart rate for a moment and then relocates to her stomach and listens again, "Good, very strong..." after removing the stethoscope she picks up and places a blood pressure band around Sam's arm, "..just check your blood pressure and you can go."

"Great, I'm starving." says Sam.

"Are you feeling hungry, when was the last time you ate?." asks Dr Lam.

"Oh about half-hour ago." replies Sam.

Dr Lam smiles, "Cravings huh?."

"Oh yeah. Right now I'm craving pickled eggs, donuts and bacon with chocolate sauce." says Sam, licking her lips and giggling.

"Wow that sounds...disgusting." replies Dr Lam, "..go easy on the sugar, alright. You're blood pressure is fine, you're...doing great." she adds, unstrapping the blood pressure band from Sam's arm.

"Goooood morning." shouts Jack, casually strolling in to the infirmary.

"You're late." says Sam.

"I'm sorry, I was eating cake and donuts in the cafeteria with Daniel and then I had to sort out an emergency in the briefing room." says Jack, kissing Sam on the forehead.

"What was it?." asks Sam.

"Triple chocolate sponge cake I think." replies Jack.

Sam shakes her head, "I meant what was the emergency?" she asks.

"They ran out of decaf..." jokes Jack, he looks at Sam but can see she isn't really in the mood for jokes, "...it was nothing, don't worry about it. So how's the patient doc?." he asks.

"Great, both mother and baby are doing just fine. You must be so excited." replies Dr Lam.

"Oh yeah." says Jack, giving Sam a tight squeeze.

"Have you thought of any names yet?." asks Dr Lam.

"Uhm we've narrowed it down to a few but we haven't made up our minds yet." says Sam.

"Well you better get a move on, thirty-six weeks, it won't be long now." says Dr Lam, she finishes writing on her clipboard, "..you're all done." she adds.

Sam slides of the bed and starts walking very quickly towards the door holding her aching back with one hand, "If Daniels eaten all the donuts I'll rip his arms off." she mumbles as she walks out.

Jack remains sitting on the bed looking a little amazed at how fast Sam just left the room and looking at Dr Lam awkwardly, "...well, good seeing you doc." he says before swiftly getting off the bed and leaving the room himself.

* * *

**Sam's Lab**

* * *

Sam finished eating her 'brunch' in the canteen and has been in her lab for a couple of hours, thankfully they had a hefty supply of donuts and chocolate sauce left and Daniels arms remain firmly attached to his body. Her new lab on base is surrounded by state-of-the-art equipment, she's wasted no time in putting the billions of dollars invested in the program to good use.

She has been working really hard over the last month as the new equipment meant she can finally do something she's been itching to do for years, dive right in to the Stargates operating code in the hope she can discover it's inner secrets, how it actually works and just maybe she will be able to replicate it in the future.

"Damn it.." shouts Sam, bashing her hands on the keyboard after hearing another negative beep coming from the computer, "...why won't you work!".

Alisana has been helping her with her work and is sitting at the work station beside her, "Are you alright, Sam?."

"Yes.." says Sam, wiping the frustration from her eyes, "..sorry I just can't get in to this, I should be able to do this."

Sam turns around to look at the 110 inch 4K display fixed to the wall behind her, it's displaying several complex layers of intertwined ancient computer code on the screen, "We managed to get through and crack all the encrypted code from the gate up to this point, it doesn't even look like gate code, what do you make of it?."

"Well it's old." says Alisana.

"Yeah, it's ancient." says Sam.

"No I mean it's really old, it's Surillic code." replies Alisana.

"What's Surillic code?." asks Sam.

"It's a secret. I mean Surillic code was used by the ancient council for some secret tasks, only the elder council members knew what it meant and how it worked. They stopped using it long before I was even born but while studying technology in the library I came across an old book that mentioned it, it was only a passing reference and didn't go in to much detail." says Alisana, she steps closer to the screen and stares at the code for a moment, "...I have no idea what this means." she says.

"So we're stuck.." sighs Sam, "..I've ran this through every decryption program we have, both my own, McKay's and the Ancient database.", she sighs again placing her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

"Not necessarily." says Alisana, gathering her thoughts, "Surillic was secret and secure but it wasn't used for that long and the council would have wanted it to be as secure as possible for whatever it is they were doing."

"Well they did a good job." says Sam.

"What if we've been going about this in the wrong way." says Alisana.

"What do you mean?" asks Sam.

"We know that a lot of technology required the ancient gene before it could be used, Surillic was created around the same time the Alterans were experimenting with this gene technology. So what if the council secretly used that technology, what if Surillic isn't encrypted digitally, but organically." says Alisana.

Sam thinks with an agreeable expression on her face and lightly biting her lower lip, "That would explain why our programs haven't been able to break through it. Call Jack, get him down here."

* * *

**2 hours later**

* * *

Alisana called Jack but he was unable to come to the lab right away because he was in a private meeting with General Landry, Sam was a little frustrated that he didn't come right away but that's just her mood swings and it actually went in her favour because it gave her time to set-up the equipment they needed.

Jack knocks twice on the door frame as he enters the lab, "Is it safe to come in?", knowing Sam sounded moody earlier.

Sam's head pops up from behind a large computer screen, "Yeah come over here."

"So what's the big emergency?." asks Jack.

"We need a hand." says Alisana.

"Doing what?." asks Jack.

Alisana walks around the table and holds Jack's hand as she leads him over to Sam, "We actually need your hand."

They've managed to convert a hand scanner in to simulating an Ancient gene scanner, "Put your hand here." says Sam.

Jack looks curiously at the scanner for a moment and hesitates, "Why?." he asks.

"You know we've been trying to crack the gate code, well we hit a block and can't get around it. We...Alisana, believes that this particular block is encrypted organically so we need the Ancient gene to unlock it. So will you just put your hand on the scanner, please!" says Sam.

"Okay.." says Jack, after a brief sharp intake of breath he places his hand on the scanner and holds it in place, "...now what?."

Sam checks the computer but nothing seems to be happening.

"Maybe he needs to think of something, it has a mental component." says Alisana.

"Right.." says Sam, "Try to focus on the code, think...unlock, access.."

"Open sesame." jokes Jack.

At that precise moment the base alarms sound and Walter is heard over the coms alerting the base to a gate activation, at the same time the multi layered code on the large screen behind them begins to cycle and fill the screen with Ancient text, like binary 1's and 0's. Then the code vanishes and all electrical equipment on base goes dark.

The intercom in the lab rings and Jack goes over to answer it, "This is O'Neill."

"Colonel, what's going on. We detected a large power surge coming from the lab just before the power went out, is everything alright down there?." asks Landry.

"I'll...have to get back to you on that Sir, but we're all fine down here..." replies Jack, then the power returns, "...power's back on Sir."

"I can see that, Colonel. I'm on my way down to the lab." says Landry.

"Yes Sir, I'll..." says Jack, he stops talking when the General unexpectedly hangs up on him, "...talk to myself." he hangs up the phone, "..The General's on his way."

"That wasn't our fault." says Sam.

Alisana is staring at the screen on the wall and taps Sam on the shoulder, "Sam, look at this."

The screen is active again but instead of gate code it's displaying a two-dimensional map of the galaxy, then slowly one-by-one tiny indicators appear all over the screen.

"What are those?." says Jack, walking over and sharing their amazement looking at the screen, "..I've seen something like this on Atlantis." he adds.

"Stargate's." says Alisana.

Sam turns back to her computer and begins to type very quickly, she brings up a display from the SGC database and places it side by side with the gate map on the large screen and turns back around and watches it cycle through a long list.

"Oh my God."

"What?" asks Jack.

"These numbers.." says Sam, pointing to the tiny indicators on the map, "..have to be gate coordinates. I just ran a program to compare the coordinates we extrapolated in our address database with all the gate coordinates shown on the map, there are hundreds of gates on here that aren't in our database."


	2. Cluster

Sam and Alisana were working in the lab trying to unlock the Stargate operating code, they reached a block when a chunk of code was proving impossible to decipher and appeared foreign like it did not belong with the rest of the code. They were eventually able to unlock it using the Ancient gene but what they discovered was far from what they were expecting, the code activated a galactic chart of the Milky Way showing every Stargate in the galaxy.

General Landry walks in to the lab towards Sam, Alisana and Jack who are standing staring at the large screen on the wall, "Colonel.", he shouts, getting their attention.

"General." replies Jack, turning for a moment to acknowledge him.

Landry approaches and stands with the others looking curiously at the display in front of them, "What's all this?."

"This is amazing, it's a map charting every Stargate in the galaxy. We just discovered it embedded within the gate code." says Sam.

"This is what activated the Stargate and caused the power surge?" asks Landry, pointing at the screen and looking for answers.

"It could have been.." says Alisana, glancing over at Sam and then facing Landry looking apologetic, "..sorry Sir."

"What do you mean activated the Stargate?" interjects Sam.

"Before the power surge that shut down my base the Stargate activated and then..." says Landry, shrugging his shoulders, "..went off."

"Sorry Sir, I don't understand how that could have happened." says Sam.

"The surge came from this lab, whatever you were doing down here had something to do with it." says Landry, he interrupts Sam before she can respond, "Briefing room one hour, you can fill me in then." he then turns and heads towards the door.

"But General we need to.." says Sam.

"One hour!." shouts Landry over his shoulder as he exits the lab and heads out of sight.

* * *

**Briefing room**

* * *

Sam and Alisana spent the last hour going over the code they unlocked and analyzing the data to try and determine what caused the power to go out on base and why this specific piece of code was in the gate code.

They enter the briefing room carrying folders and looking excited as they sit around the table where the rest of SG-1 have been sitting for the past twenty minutes, General Landry is by the top of the stairs speaking with Siler, the chief technical engineer.

"All equipment is functioning normally again Sir, no lasting damage." says Siler.

"Thank you Sergeant." replies Landry, he then turns and heads towards the table as Siler makes his way down the stairs, "All right, what do you have for me?." he asks as he takes his seat.

Sam bites her lower lip before replying, "Sorry Sir, I'm afraid it was our fault Sir after all."

"You don't need to apologize, Colonel. The blackout didn't cause any damage and no one was injured, however, I would appreciate it if you let me know in advance the next time you plan on doing something that could potentially cripple the base." says Landry.

"I thought it was rather exciting, Daniel and I got stuck in the elevator for two whole minutes." says Vala, smiling and winking at Daniel.

Daniel rolls his eyes.

"Well we had no idea that was going to happen when the code was activated." says Sam.

"What exactly did happen?." asks Jack.

Alisana stands over by the monitor and brings up a series of files and images as she talks, "The code we unlocked was in Surillic, it's a very old form of code used only by the Ancient council. When it was activated it some how manage to connect directly to the dialling computer and activated the Stargate and some moments later we got this map on screen."

"Those are Stargate's right?." asks Daniel.

"Yes." replies Sam, "It's a map of the gate network in the Milky Way galaxy, we think the code dialed the gate to get an outgoing connection to somehow get the location and status of every gate in the galaxy, similar to how the DHD's dial near-by Stargate's periodically for the correlative updates."

Mitchell stares at the screen, "So each of those white markers indicate the presence of a Stargate?"

"Yes exactly." says Sam.

Mitchell points to the screen, "So what does the orange one indicate?"

Alisana returns to the table and sits next to Sam and share a short look at each other and smile, "We don't know." says Sam.

"Then why are you smiling?" asks Jack.

"Because we don't know what it is, the map isn't showing the presence of a planet or moon so we don't think it's a Stargate." says Alisana.

"If it is not a Stargate then what is it?" asks Teal'c.

"We don't know." says Sam, she can see Jack and Landry looking a little frustrated at this point so continues, "..but whatever it is the Ancient council felt it was important enough to be displayed on the map. We should at least check it out." she adds.

"We?" moans Jack.

"Yes, I'm going with you." replies Sam.

"I admire your enthusiasm, Colonel, but I can't give you permission to go off world in your present condition." says Landry.

"You know how long I've been working on this and I want to be there to see what you find." says Sam.

"It's in an isolated region of space and there's no near-by Stargate's so we'll need a ship to get there anyway, she'll be fine." says Alisana, arguing Sam's case because she knows how much she wants this.

"I'll stay on the ship the entire time no matter what." says Sam, "..come on, you have to let me go."

Landry looks at Jack for his opinion, "Fine...but you're not getting off the ship, I don't care what's out there." says Jack.

"Deal." says Sam.

"The Daedalus is in Pegasus at the moment so I'll contact the Alliance, they can give you a ride." says Landry.

"Thank you, Sir." says Sam.

* * *

**Onboard the USS Alliance**

* * *

SG-1 prepared for their new mission to discover what the mysterious blip was on the gate map, Sam was reluctantly given the all clear to travel from Dr Lam and they're all now on board the Alliance under the command of Captain Swanson.

Their destination is the outer edge of the Milky Way and they have been in hyperspace for several days mostly just laying back and kicking their heels over the long journey until they finally reach the coordinates and the ship drops out of hyperspace and slowly comes to a stop and SG-1 are called to the bridge.

"What's up?" asks Mitchell.

"We're here." says Sam, sitting at the control station at the front of the ship.

Looking out of the bridge window they see an extremely large cluster of broken rocks of varying sizes, gently swirling and twisting in the darkness of space.

"This doesn't make any sense, there should be something here." says Alisana, leaning over Sam at the station.

"Does anyone else just see rocks?" says Jack, standing on the bridge with his arms folded.

"Can we get any closer?" asks Alisana.

Sam looks at Swanson who gives her a nod to move the ship forward, "Just don't get too close, I don't want those rocks hitting my ship.", as the ship approaches closer and closer and the rocks become larger and slowly drift out of the way, they see an object within the cluster.

"It's a ship." says Vala.

Daniel sees the battered and broken ship, "What's left of it."

Jack slowly unfolds his arms and walks closer to the window, "Destiny." he says softly as he stares.


	3. Company

"It looks like a wreck but I'm getting some strange readings from it." says Sam, "There's a number of different energy signatures coming from inside the ship." she adds.

"Life signs?" asks Swanson.

"No there's no life support." replies Sam.

Jack turns back from the window, "How did the Destiny get all the way back here." he questions.

"I don't think it's the Destiny, Jack. Admittedly the design looks similar from the sketches I've seen but looking at the damage and rust on the hull it looks like this ship has been out here for a long time. A really long time." says Sam.

"Uhm guys..." says Daniel, after seeing a pulse of light coming from the ship, "..GUYS!" he shouts with urgency.

An energy pulse is fired at them and narrowly misses the ship, just skimming the forward shields.

"Move us away from here now." orders Swanson.

The Alliance moves position away from the ship and manages to evade three more energy pulses fired directly at them and they come to a halt when the pulses stop.

"I thought you said they were no life signs?" asks Swanson, a little angry that her ship was attacked without provocation.

"There isn't." replies Sam.

"Someone fired those shots." says Mitchell.

"They could be automated." says Alisana.

Sam goes through her sensor readings again, "Life support is definitely offline, there is a strong energy signature coming from the middle of the ship, possibly a power source that could be powering the automated defenses."

"In that case we're heading back home." says Swanson.

"What, why?." asks Alisana.

"If that ship is unmanned with automatic defence weapons there's no way I'm taking my ship anywhere near it again, I'm not putting you, my ship or my crew in harms way." says Swanson.

"Can't you turn them off, flick a switch, wave a white flag." says Vala.

"The front and left wing of the ship are breached and badly damaged but there is a large chunk of it still in tact. Even without life support it should be safe to beam over with space suits, that way we won't need to move the ship in closer and we can bypass the defenses altogether." says Sam.

"We came all this way, we can't stop now." says Alisana, she points out of the window, "That ship was important to the Ancient council, we need to find out why."

Swanson looks at Jack and Mitchell and thinks for a moment, "Are you sure it's safe?" she asks.

"Yes. I can keep a lock on them and if there's any problems we can just beam them out." says Sam.

"Gear up." says Jack, to the others, he then looks at Sam, "You're staying here."

"No matter what." replies Sam.

"Keep your communications open, at the first sign of trouble I'm getting you out of there." says Swanson.

* * *

**On board the Ancient ship**

* * *

Jack, Daniel, Vala, Mitchell, Alisana and Teal'c got into space suits and have just been transported on to the ship, they stand for a moment turning on their torches and suit lights and looking around, they're standing a few meters from a large open hole in the hull.

"Wooaw, that's a big hole." says Daniel, looking out in to space and wreck of the front of the ship.

"All right, where too?" asks Jack.

"Well Sam was right, the hull doesn't look too bad in this part of the ship, apart from the obvious big gaping hole behind us. We should head for the bridge, maybe we can get some of the systems back online." says Alisana.

"What systems?" asks Jack.

"Deactivating the defenses for one, and maybe activate the shields and life support" says Alisana, already walking forward.

"You should also check the ships core and try to locate the source of the energy signature." says Sam, over the radio as she listens in with Swanson on board the Alliance.

Vala stops Alisana briefly by grabbing her shoulder, "Where's the vault?" she asks.

"What?" replies Alisana.

"The vault. Safe room. The ship was important to the Ancients, maybe they were transporting gold and jewels and other items of high value that could be easily sold and make us lots of money." says Vala with a smile.

"Vala!" shouts Daniel.

"What!. The laws of salvage mean this ship and all its shiny contents belong to me...I mean us." says Vala.

"We're not here to get rich, get moving." says Daniel.

As Daniel and the others make their way through down the corridor, Vala stands for a moment and gnarls, "Hate you." she growls.

They eventually separate in to teams when they come to a juncture, Daniel and Alisana head for the bridge, Jack and Teal'c head for the core while Vala and Mitchell try to find the power source. Each team has been making their way through the bowels of the ship for over an hour, the lack of gravity and heavy space suits have made progress quite slow and tiring but they're pushing on.

* * *

**Bridge**

* * *

Daniel and Alisana make it to the bridge but the doors are blocked by heavy debris and twisted metal, they spend the next twenty minutes or so cutting through the debris with plasma torches and finally shift enough out of the way to get to the doors, after using a little brute force they manage to pry the doors open and squeeze inside.

Stepping inside they see a long console and stairs leading down to a long arch shaped console stretching the width of the room and numerous screens hanging from the walls and a captains chair in the middle.

As they shine their torches on the long console in front of them they see four square blocks on top of it, each with a different symbol on, two at each side of a yellow dome shaped crystal that sits in the middle.

Daniel looks at them in detail one at a time, "Ancient, Nox, I think this is Furling...I don't know this one."

"Beru." says Alisana, reaching out and gently touching the symbol on the panel.

"Beru, what...what's Beru?" asks Daniel.

Alisana replies in a soft and slower tone, "They were uhm, they were part of the Alliance of races a long time ago, they helped my people evolve."

"Are you alright?" asks Daniel, sensing the strange tone in her voice.

Alisana stops touching the symbol, "Yeah I'm fine, we should see if we can get these consoles working."

"Where are they now?" asks Daniel, as Alisana makes her way down the stairs.

"Who?" replies Alisana.

"The Beru." says Daniel.

"Oh, they're extinct. Can you check the consoles over there and see if they have power." says Alisana.

* * *

**Core**

* * *

Jack and Teal'c found the computer core room but found it in a mess, several system panels are completely burnt or blown to pieces and the ones which remain relatively intact have panels open with their operation crystals scattered all over the floor, Jack isn't an expert in this field so he's the job of reconstructing the core systems to Teal'c.

"Okay you should see five rectangular ones with blue and yellow stripes going through them." says Sam, giving instructions and a helping hand over the radio, "Once they're in place close the panel and the system should boot up."

"It is up and running." says Teal'c.

"Did it work?" asks Sam.

"Yeah that worked, now what?" asks Jack.

"The rest should be relatively simple, just match the colored crystals with the ones on the core panels." says Sam.

"Did you get that, Teal'c?" shouts Jack.

"I am attempting to do that now." replies Teal'c.

"He's working on it." says Jack.

"How long do you think it's going to take?" asks Sam.

"Teal'c.." shouts Jack, "..how long will this take?" he asks.

"It may take some time." says Teal'c, organizing crystals and finding the correct slots to place them in, "However, it would go much faster if I was not constantly stopping to answer questions, O'Neill." he adds.

"He's working on it." says Jack.

* * *

**Rear of the ship**

* * *

"Mitchell. Mitchell, just stop for a second." says Vala, "I need a rest." she moans, propping herself up against the wall.

Mitchell stands a few meters ahead of her looking down the corridor, "It can't be too far now."

"I can't make it, you go ahead." says Vala, sliding down the wall to a seated position on a metal block sticking out of the wall.

"We don't have a lot of oxygen left, we need to keep moving." says Mitchell.

"I can't." moans Vala.

Mitchell shakes his head and gets on his radio, "Alliance, this is Mitchell, come in."

"Everything alright?" replies Sam.

"We're almost at the back of the ship but Vala said she's too tired to continue, can you beam her back on board and I'll continue alone." says Mitchell.

"Copy th-t I'l- ...her on...-sd-f"

"Say again." says Mitchell, there's a sudden break in the radio signal and all he hears is static, "Repeat the last message. Sam, you there. Alliance come in, over."

"What's wrong?" asks an exhausted Vala.

"I lost communications with the Alliance." says Mitchell.

He tries for a few minutes to get back in touch with the Alliance and the other team members but is unsuccessful, suddenly the lights in the corridor blink to life, "We need to head back." he says, then he hears a metal clanking sound coming from down the corridor.

"You'll have to help me up." says Vala.

"Shussh!" says Mitchell.

"What?" asks Vala.

Then more clanking sounds are heard and steadily get louder, "Get back there." he says, pulling Vala to her feet and retreating around a corner, he stands peering out down the corridor, removing a side-arm from the holder of his space suit.

"Colonel O'Neill, come in." he whispers over the radio.

"Mitchell, is that you, I can barely read you, say again." replies Jack.

"We've got company." says Mitchell.

As he looks down the hall as the clanking gets louder, he sees a shadow slowly casting on the wall opposite, thin stick like shadows.

"Company?" asks Jack.

"Possible replicators." says Mitchell, kneeling to the floor perched around the corner aiming his gun down the corridor.


	4. Revelation

Mitchell quietly signals to Vala to remain where she is, he then slowly moves away from the corner and takes tiny steps down the corridor towards the shadow on the wall ahead.

As he gets further down the corridor he can hear the clanking sounds more clearly and he stops briefly after hearing a loud bang but continues forward, when he reaches the corner he pushes his back up against the wall and takes a breath, then he slowly peers around but is shocked at what he sees.

Looking around the corner he doesn't see the replicators that he was expecting to see, instead he sees a larger mechanical robot with three legs and a circular body cutting into a large rock that has penetrated the hull, then he suddenly freezes as the robots body spins around after detecting his presence, he flinches wanting to move back behind the wall but he finds himself frozen in fear as a beam of light shines on him from the robot and cycles up and down his body like a scanner.

The light from the robot goes out and its upper body spins back around as it continues to cut through the rock, Mitchell slowly moves himself back around the corner and breaths heavily with both panic and relief.

"Mitchell!" shouts Jack, as he, Vala and Teal'c come running down the corridor holding guns and kneel beside him, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah..." says Mitchell, he notices they aren't wearing their suits, "..where are your suits?" he asks.

"We managed to reactivate several of the ships systems." says Teal'c, helping Mitchell to his feet.

"Alisana got life support and gravity working again, you can take your suit off." says Jack.

Mitchell starts removing his suit, "Well it's not replicators, take a look around there."

Jack, Vala and Teal'c both stick their heads around the corner and see the robot, Jack steps out to get a better look, "What the heck is that thing."

"I don't know, but it scanned me with some kind of...scanner." says Mitchell.

"Ouch.." shouts Jack, jumping and turning around as another robot walks out from behind a panel in the wall and bashes in to his leg, he looks down and aims his gun at it.

"Wait, wait. Don't shoot." says Alisana over the radio.

"What, why not?" replies Jack.

"They're not hostile, they won't hurt you." says Alisana.

"Yeah, tell that to my ankle." says Jack.

"They're Urabo's." says Alisana.

"Ura-what?" asks Jack.

"Urabo's, they're worker bots designed to repair and maintain the ship, they won't harm us." says Alisana.

"Alright come on guys let's head back." says Jack.

"No Sam wants you to keep going and find the source of that energy signature, I have most of the systems working but the internal scanners aren't working so I can't determine where or what it is. Hold on I'll boost the radio signal." says Alisana.

"Sam, you reading me." says Jack.

"Loud and clear. I need you to keep going if you can." says Sam.

"This ship is giving me the willies." says Mitchell.

Jack looks concerned and unsure if they should continue, "Is it far?" he asks.

"It should be around there somewhere, I can't get an exact fix on it but it shouldn't be more than a few hundred meters ahead of your current position." says Sam.

"Alright, we'll give it a shot but if we don't find anything soon I'm heading back. Mitchell, you and Vala can go back if you want." says Jack.

"Nah I'll go with you." says Mitchell.

"Me too." says Vala.

Mitchell gives her a strange look, "I thought you were too tired?" he asks.

"I feel much better now after getting that suit off." says Vala, she pats him on the shoulder as she passes by and heads towards the robots and down the corridor, "Let's go boys."

* * *

**Bridge**

* * *

While the others continue to push forward in search of the energy source, Daniel and Alisana keep working on accessing the ships systems in an attempt to discover the ships purpose and how it ended up where it is now in its current condition.

"Can you watch the panel on the captains chair and let me know if it comes on." says Alisana, sat at a console at the front of the bridge.

"Sure." says Daniel, walking up to and sitting in the chair watching the display embedded in the arm rest, "So, who were they?" he asks, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Who?" says Alisana.

"The Beru. You said they helped your people evolve and they were a part of the alliance of races but in all the years we've been exploring the galaxy I've never heard of them or see any mention of them anywhere." says Daniel.

A lengthy silence goes by and she doesn't answer, "Alisana." says Daniel, feeling he's being ignored.

Alisana sighs, "Why do you want to know?" she asks.

"I'm just curious to find out who they were. Why do I get the feeling you're avoiding the question." says Daniel.

Alisana spins around in her seat and after a moment of silence she begins to tell him, "The Beru are like God's to my people, they were one of the first races in this galaxy along with the Nox, they were very advanced and much like the Ancients they liked to explore the galaxy and learn as much as they could about..everything.

While they were exploring they came to Vellusello, that's the name of my planet, the Furling home world. They made contact with my people but they were really young and primitive, like cave men. The Beru took it upon themselves to nurture us and teach us how to survive and build and evolve in to the people that we are today."

"Well surely that's a good thing, why didn't you want to tell me that?" says Daniel.

"Thousands of years before the alliance of races was even formed, the Beru had been infected some how with a virus that was slowly killing them and they weren't able to find a cure. When the alliance was formed the others worked with them and tried to find a cure but they also failed, then the virus got worse and it hit the Beru hard, within a few months their race went from a population of several million to just a few thousand." says Alisana, she stops and lowers her head with another sigh.

"Go on." says Daniel.

"As the virus got worse the Beru confined and quarantined themselves to their home world but some how the virus began to spread to other worlds in the galaxy and was infecting other populations. Unable to find a cure or halt the spread of the virus a decision had to be made on what action to take, a decision that would change us forever." says Alisana, wiping a single tear from her face.

Daniel stands from his chair and crouches in front of her handing her a handkerchief, "I'm sorry I pushed you." he says.

"No it's okay. I don't know why I'm getting upset, I wasn't even there." says Alisana, "After a lot of debate and discussion between the races they came to the painful decision that the only way to stop the virus and save the lives of billions was to eradicate it once and for all." she adds.

"You don't have to go on." says Daniel.

"No, you have a right to know. All those infected were taken to the Beru home world with the promise of a cure, but it was a lie, there was no cure. The others built a weapon, like a nuclear bomb, designed to consume and kill the virus but when the time came they couldn't bring themselves to use it. They came up with another plan to move the infected to a distant part of the galaxy away from any other populated worlds.

All the races agreed but one. They felt it wasn't good enough and that no matter where the infected were, the virus would some day return. So when the infected were gathered up and preparations were being made to move them across the galaxy, unknown and against the wishes of the others they fired the weapon and destroyed the planet and everyone on it." says Alisana.

Daniel can't believe any of the races would take such an action, "Who fired the weapon, who killed them?."

Alisana looks at him with a wet teary-eyed face, "We did.", referring to the Furlings.

Daniel got his answer but is in shock at what he heard, finding it hard to believe that the Furlings could have done such a thing, basically committing mass murder, he was about to ask her for more information when the console behind Alisana began to beep.

"That's it, we're in." says Alisana, turning back to the console.


	5. Distress

**Rear of the ship**

* * *

Jack and the others stand in a corridor looking at a large closed door with a big gaping hole in the middle of it, they watch as a Urabo walks through the hole in the door and in to the room behind it, they see random electrical flashes in the room like a blinking light bulb, with each flash they see several Urabo's wandering around the room inside.

They look at each other with each of them thinking the same thing, who will be the first to go in to the room.

"Mitchell, you want to take the lead on this one." says Jack.

"Me?" replies Mitchell, pointing to himself.

"Go ahead." says Jack, "We'll be right behind you."

"Not scared are you, Mitchell." says Vala.

"No I'm not scared." says Mitchell, he steps to the door and cautiously looks through the hole for a moment, then he turns around and steps back, "Teal'c, you want to take this one buddy."

"Oh for...I'll go, step aside ladies." says Vala, barging past and walking through the hole without hesitation.

The others gather by the hole when she seems to disappear, "Vala?" shouts Jack, after a brief moment of hearing nothing they suddenly jump back in surprise.

"Are you coming in or what?" says Vala, suddenly poking her head out through the hole and scaring the life out of the 'ladies' with a grin on her face, "Come on its safe."

"Jeesh!. Don't do that again." moans Jack, "Get in there." pushing Vala's head back and stepping through with Teal'c and Mitchell following behind.

As they stand in the large room they see a large vertical glass cylinder about three meters in diameter in the middle of the room, it stands between two metal platforms one of the floor and another on the ceiling with thick cables spidering out from it across the ceiling and vanishing in to the surrounding walls, the inside of the cylinder is smoky with a bright orange core moving around like liquid and pulsing randomly and illuminating the surrounding area.

Several Urabo's crawl around the room picking up bits of rock and placing them in to a small illuminated blue hatch in the lower platform below the cylinder, they do this continuously and then leave the room as more Urabo's enter and continue to feed bits of rock in to the hatch.

"Sam, do you read, come in." says Jack.

"Yes I'm here, did you find it?." asks Sam.

"Oh-I would say so..yeah." replies Jack.

"What is it, can you describe it?" asks Sam.

"It's...big and honking." says Jack.

"Can you elaborate on that a little." asks Sam.

Jack glances at the others as if searching for an answer and then shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, it looks like a, huge lava lamp." he says.

* * *

**Bridge**

* * *

Daniel is still feeling shocked after learning the Furlings may not have been the peaceful race he imagined but he puts his many other questions aside for the time being as they finally manage to access the memory banks and ships logs but the language displayed on screen is unknown to Daniel, "What language is that?" he asks, squinting at the screen.

"It's Dicea, its like speaking in code. The old council used it to communicate in secret, my friends and I use to speak in Dicea so no one knew what we were saying, quite childish really but I can read it. Sam we're in, I'm sending the data now." says Alisana.

"Great." replies Sam, checking her console, "Receiving data stream." she adds.

"What does it say?" asks Daniel, leaning over her and feeling pretty useless.

"Lelantos." says Alisana.

"Lelantos?" says Daniel, with the name sounding familiar.

"That's the name of the ship." replies Alisana, she notices Daniel stand up straight, fold his arms and appear deep in thought, "Do you recognize that name?." she asks.

"Yes from a Greek myth, Lelantos was perceived as a God, one of the Titans, God of the wind and air. His name means something to go unobserved or unseen, like the wind." explains Daniel.

"There's no information of when or from where the ship was launched but its classified as a category nine ship." says Alisana, she looks at Daniel, "That means it was built for war." she adds.

"Well the name kind of makes sense, Lelantos was also skilled in hunting and stalking prey." says Daniel, he unfolds his arms and leans back over her, "Does it say anything else?" he asks.

"Not a lot, most of the data has been erased but there are a few log entries remaining.." says Alisana, she opens one of the logs and it turns out to be a heavily corrupted video entry made by the ships captain.

The video has a lot of static and broken parts but appears to show the captain speaking in to the camera with the bridge window in the background with crew members dressed in white clothing moving around...

* * *

"_Our mis-ions was a success_

_Omega is in full r-tre-t_

_W- a-e retur-g home_

_estimate - arrival in eighteen da-s_"

* * *

"Can you play the other one." says Daniel.

"Yeah." replies Alisana.

The last log shows the same scene but the captain appears worried and the crew are running around in a panic, they can hear loud bangs and see visual explosions on the video.

* * *

"_\- - off course- -yd-a- - - followed us_

_under a-tack - - destroy it but -t_

_– containment brea-hed - - can't – - - -_

_self repair, keeps repairing itself - - – small pieces_

_one sh-p, smaller ships, we can't - - - - we_

_\- - - - - - – – - - – – - - Omeg- -_

_\- urgent as—stance_"

* * *

After a bright light from a large explosion in the background the video log cuts off.

"A distress call." says Daniel.

"The log status shows that the message never got sent." says Alisana.

* * *

**On board**** The Alliance**

* * *

While Sam is communicating with Jack over the radio, Cadet Ashley, a very bright young girl with a high IQ and excellent scientific knowledge and skills is sitting at the left console on the bridge, she was personally recommended by Sam and Captain Swanson took her on board as a member of her ships crew a few months ago.

"Captain, I'm picking up activity in the debris field." says Ashley.

A large piece of rock has collided with another and broken apart, the resulting fragments begin to collide with other rocks within the field and the resulting chain reaction causes hundreds of rocks to chaotically head for and spin around the wreckage of the Lelantos.

As if that wasn't already bad enough, the concussive force of several large rocks has propelled an even larger one on a direct path towards the ship.

Captain Swanson stands from her chair in urgency, "Transport them out of there, now!" she orders.

"Oh my God." says Sam.


	6. Panic

**Rear of the Lelantos**

* * *

Jack, Vala, Mitchell and Teal'c stand in the room looking at the enormous energy cylinder, they separate and begin to wander around it.

"It could be an engine." says Vala.

Mitchell points a flash light up at the ceiling, "Where are all the cables going..." looking at the messy twisted cables, "..it looks like its been hot-wired or something."

Teal'c removes a modified Ancient life-signs detector pad from the side pocket of his pants and steps towards the cylinder.

"Woh-hey, what are you doing?" says Jack, grabbing Teal'cs shoulder.

"Colonel Carter will require readings, O'Neill."

Jack removes his hand, "Alright, don't get too close." he says.

Teal'c and Jack manoeuvre themselves around the Urabo's and Teal'c removes the sensor module from the pad as he kneels beside the bottom part of the cylinder by the open blue hatch and begins to take readings of the hatch, cylinder and rocks around him.

"The rocks appear to contain large concentrations of Neutronium." says Teal'c, standing and showing Jack the pad.

They all turn their heads suddenly after hearing a loud pop coming from the corner of the room, then hear another and another, Mitchell shines his torch at the wall which reveals tiny holes have appeared, then more popping sounds accompanied by more holes appearing in the wall.

"Ouch-jes.." cries Mitchell, clutching his hand after the top of his torch suddenly exploded and was knocked from his hand.

Jack recognizes what's happening, 'micro-rocks' hitting and penetrating the outer hull, he rushes and grabs Mitchell and pulls him away, "Get back, get away from the walls."

More micro-rocks pop through the walls and several strike and puncture the cylinder causing smoke to begin to flow out from inside it like a broken steam pipe, a jet of smoke and drops of the contained liquid hit Vala just before Teal'c manages to tackle her to the floor out of the way.

* * *

**On board the Alliance**

* * *

Sam successfully transported Daniel and Alisana off of the Lelantos and on to the bridge.

They look around feeling a little disorientated after being transported away without warning.

"What's going on, why did you beam us off?" asks Alisana.

"The debris field has become unstable, there's a rock the size of a small moon heading for the ship." says Swanson.

"I lost them." shouts Sam in a panic.

"Come on colonel, get them off that ship." says Swanson.

Sam is frantically bashing away at the console which just keep sounding a negative beep, "I can't!" she says.

"What do you mean you can't?" asks Swanson.

"I had them, they were locked in and then I just..I lost the signal." says Sam, "I can't get a fix on them, the sensors just went crazy, its detecting a massive concentration of organic matter and I can't get a fix on their individual life-signs, this doesn't make any sense." she adds.

"I'm no expert but can't we just blow it up before it hits the ship?" asks Daniel.

"The rocks are moving too rapidly it would be impossible to get a clear shot, there's too many objects in the way, we'd hit one of them before we even got close. We could just blast away but that would only break them up and create more for us to deal with." says Cadet Ashley.

Sam racks her brain searching for a way to get them out of this and then moments later jumps from her seat, "Alisana." she shouts, "You can help." she adds.

"How?" asks Alisana.

"You have abilities, you can save them." says Sam.

Alisana shakes her head not understanding what she's saying, "Abilities. I can't get them off the ship." she says.

Sam gently holds her shoulders and ushers her towards the bridge window, "No but you can stop the rock from hitting the ship."

"I don't know how." says Alisana.

"You can do it. I've seen you use your abilities before, you just...haven't used them yet." says Sam.

Alisana looks confused, how could Sam have seen them if she hasn't used them yet, "What?!" she asks.

"Just concentrate on the rock, break it apart or something." says Sam.

Alisana feels unsure of what to do as she watches Sam walk back to her seat and then she turns and looks out of the window at the debris field ahead, she exhales puffing her cheeks and then wiggles lightly to loosen her body and after a deep breath she out stretches her arms with her palms raised and closes her eyes to concentrate.

After a short time they witness a small cloud of dust brush off of the large rock but nothing else, Alisana lowers her arms and exhales and breathes heavily from holding her breath, "I can't do it." she says.

"You can do this." says Sam, with a look of reassurance and heavy belief on her face, "If you can't destroy it then try and slow it down and buy them some time." she adds.

"I'll try." says Alisana

She takes her previous position with her arms extended and concentrates once again, after a brief moment they witness the rock visibly slowing in both rotation and speed, she opens her eyes leaving her arms outstretched, "I got it, I got it." she shouts with both shock and amazement.

"How is she doing that?" asks a bemused Daniel.

"I'll explain later." says Sam.

Sam gets on the radio, "Jack, Teal'c, anyone, do you read?"

* * *

**Lelantos**

* * *

After the cylinder was punctured they all rushed to the floor in an attempt to avoid making contact with the cloud of smoke forming above them and are crawling on their hands and knees heading for the door.

"Are you alright?" asks Teal'c, rolling himself off of Vala.

"I'm fine." says Vala, coughing and wiping the liquid substance off her arm, "Thanks muscles." she adds.

"Get us out of here." says Mitchell, responding to the radio call.

"Sam, beam us out." says Jack.

"I can't." says Sam, "Are you still in the room with the energy source?" she asks.

"Yes and its getting a little hard to breath, beam us out." says Jack.

"I can't get a fix on you, something in that room is interfering with the sensors. You're going to have to get clear of it before I can get a lock and beam you out. Look you have to hurry there's a large rock heading for the ship, the shield strength was already low so the ship won't survive the impact." says Sam.

"Head for the door – _cough_" says Jack.

As they get closer to the door they all suddenly stop crawling, feeling a steadily increasing vibration under their hands and feet, they hear a loud sound like the sound of roaring thunder, Jack and Teal'c share a look, like they know what's coming, "We must hurry!" shouts Teal'c.

"Move it, move!" shouts Jack.

At that moment a large rock collides with the ship and rips off part of the top of the hull like it was a can of sardines, the impact throws Vala and Mitchell in to the door and Jack and Teal'c scramble around the floor for something to hold on to as the room begins to decompress and the suction drags them back across the floor, as they cling on to cables for dear life the cylinder is shaken and broken free from its connections by the suction.

The broken metal is tossed around the room like leafs in a tornado and slam against the walls causing more damage and the structure of the room begins to buckle and collapse, the cylinder is dragged in to the air and slams in to the gaping hole and thankfully sealing the breach, but the impact causes more damage to the cylinder and even more smoke bellows out of it.

The metal debris that was being tossed around the room by the wind now falls freely to the ground.

"Aargh, God!" cries Jack, having a large part of a metal bulkhead land on him just above the waist.

"O'Neill!" shouts Teal'c, lifting and throwing metal fragments off of himself and making his way over, "Hold on." he says, he stands and tries to lift if off of him, he uses all the strength he has but is unable to move it.

Mitchell and Vala head over to help, combining their strength they try again to lift it but again they fail and the room is quickly filling with smoke.

* * *

**On board the Alliance**

* * *

"One of the rocks just struck the ship, there was some decompression but it appears to have stopped." informs Cadet Ashley.

"Jack come in. Do you copy?...Jack!" says Sam, panicking over the radio.

The rock which impacted the Lelantos broke apart as it bounced off the hull sending tiny fragments rocketing toward the Alliance, the crew is caught off-guard as several of them penetrate the hull of the bridge, one of them hits Alisana and goes through her leg like a bullet.

"Aargh." cries Alisana, falling to the ground and clutching her leg.

Daniel rushes over to help her, "We need a medic!" he shouts.

Without Alisanas help the large rock returns to its rapid rotation and speeds once again towards the Lelantos.


	7. Flashbang

The medic arrives on the bridge and rushes over to Alisana who is laying on the floor in agony, he places his medical kit on the ground as he kneels beside her examining the wound, he rips her pants at the knee to get a better look at her wound and then opens the kit and takes out a gauze, "Hold this here." he says to Daniel, placing the gauze on her open leg wound, he then takes out a needle and injects her with pain-killers.

Alisana sucks air through her teeth in pain, she then sees the medic preparing to wrap a bandage around her leg and reaches out to shove him away, "No!." she shouts.

"Let him help." says Daniel.

"No. There's no time, help me up." says Alisana, "Help me!" she demands.

Daniel holds her hands and pulls her up on to her feet, she hops herself steady unable to stand on her injured leg, "Are you alright?" asks Daniel.

"I'm fine." says Alisana.

"We need to get you to the infirmary, your leg needs medical attention." says the medic.

"I said I'm fine." snaps Alisana, hopping back towards the window where she once again retakes her position with outstretched arms in an attempt to stop the rock with a look of serious determination on her face.

* * *

**Lelantos**

* * *

With Jack pinned under the heavy metal the others try again and again to move it and free him but each attempt is a failure and its just aggravating his pain and the smoke in the room is almost at floor level.

"We require leverage." says Teal'c, scanning the floor with his eyes for something he can use.

"No. Just, just get out of here." says Jack.

"I will not leave you." says Teal'c.

"We'll get you out." says Mitchell.

Jack clutches Mitchell's shirt around the collar and pulls him towards his face, "That's an order." he growls, "Get out of here." he shouts.

They're reluctant to go but know there's nothing they can do, they head out of the hole in the door, Teal'c stops and looks back, "I will return for you, O'Neill." he says, then as they run down the corridor they vanish from Jack's view.

Jack attempts unsuccessfully to push the heavy slab of metal off himself, his upper body falls back on to the floor with his hand on his forehead with feelings of pain and desperation, he lays helplessly on the floor as he tries to ignore the pain by filling his mind with thoughts of Sam and his unborn child.

As Teal'c, Vala and Mitchell run through the corridors they start to get a signal back on their radio as Sam's voice begins to crackle through.

"Please answer me, are you there, come in." says Sam.

"Yeah, Sam. We're moving, can you beam us out." replies Mitchell.

"Oh thank God." says Sam, relieved to hear a voice, "Your bio signals are beginning to come through but there's still too much interference, you have to keep moving. I'll beam you out the moment I have a stable fix on you." she adds.

They continue running forward and then stop when Vala and Mitchell notice Teal'c has stopped running, he stands in the corridor looking back over his shoulder.

"Teal'c come on we gotta go." says Mitchell.

"I can not leave him." says Teal'c, "Keep going." he adds as he turns and runs back the way he came.

Vala and Mitchell stand unsure of what to do as Sam repeated calls them over the radio, "Guys why have you stopped?", Mitchell doesn't respond, instead he shares a look with Vala and then they both turn and head back with Teal'c.

* * *

**On board the Alliance**

* * *

Sam is still sitting at her console monitoring their life-signs on the sensors, "Guys why have you stopped?" she sees their signatures moving back in the opposite direction, "What are you doing, you're going the wrong way. Guys?, Mitchell?, do you read?"

Their life-sign signatures vanish again from the sensors.

"Damn it, I lost them. What are they doing?" says Sam with concern.

Alisana still stands by the window trying to slow the rock that is getting increasing closer to the Lelantos with her arms beginning to shake, suddenly her foot slides backwards a couple of inches across the floor like there's some invisible force pushing her back, "I don't know how much longer I can do this." she says, feeling weaker with every passing second.

Cadet Ashley jumps from her seat and rushes around her console to join Daniel as he stands behind Alisana holding her steady, "We've got you." says Daniel.

"This is so freaking weird." says Ashley, bracing Alisanas back.

"Hi I'm Daniel."

"Ashley."

"What's your first name?" asks Daniel.

"Celli – (Pronounced Kelly)."

"Nice to meet you, Celli" asks Daniel.

"Thanks." says Celli.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." says Alisana, "You may want to push a little harder." she adds as she struggles against the force pushing her back.

* * *

**Lelantos**

* * *

Jack still lays helplessly on the floor as a thick cloud of smoke begins to slowly fall upon him, he's a brave man, a strong man, but even he has his moments of sadness and he can't fight back the tear s that glide down his cheeks from his eyes as he lays and thinks about the ones he loves.

He knows the situation is dire and he's preparing himself for the worst when he finally finds a peaceful place in his thoughts, forgetting all that is happening around him he whispers in to the air, "I love you, Sam."

As he's slowly closing his eyes about to give up he hears the loud bang of scraping and shifting metal on the floor in front of him, he raises his head to look but he can't see through the smoke, then he sees a dark shadow forming and approaching him, he reaches around and grabs a piece of metal piping and holds it ready to defend himself.

As the shadow grows darker he recoils back the pipe in his arm ready to defend himself and then to his surprise he watches as a Urabo crawls out of the smoke and stops by his feet, one of its legs appears to be damaged, he stares at the Urabo as a beam of light scans his upper body.

It stops scanning him and then it crawls around the debris around him, Jack holds the pipe firmly keeping his guard up the whole time unsure of what's going to happen, he flinches when a pointed object springs from within the Urabo's body, its dome shaped body then spins around and begins to cut through the metal that's pinning him to the floor.

When the Urabo cuts in to the metal he realizes that it's trying to help him and he drops the pipe on the floor and begins to push on the metal again.

Teal'c and the others return through the hole in the door, "O'Neill."

"Teal'c!." shouts Jack, so relieved to hear his voice, "Help me push this." he says.

Together they once again try to shift the metal off of him and this time are successful, he screams in agony as the metal is lifted and tossed aside, Mitchell and Teal'c help him to his feet and hold him up between them.

Jack rubs the backs of their heads, "Thanks for coming back." he says.

"We could not leave you, O'Neill." says Teal'c.

"Can we please go now?" moans Vala.

As Mitchell and Teal'c carry Jack towards the hole in the door he stops and turns, "Wait, wait." he shouts, turning back he looks at the Urabo that cut him loose from the debris as it slowly crawls with a damaged leg across the floor, "Teal'c, grab that thing will ya." he says.

Teal'c isn't sure why he wants him to do that but he rushes over and picks it up anyway and they all head out through the door.

* * *

**On board the Alliance**

* * *

The force being inflicted on Alisana as she tries desperately to stop the rock has increased and Daniel and Celli are now pushing so hard they're having to lean against her with their legs stretched back with arms pushing on her back and even they are beginning to slide backwards across the floor.

"Any time, Sam." shouts Daniel.

Captain Swanson can see the struggle they're having and the rock closing in on the Lelantos, "Hurry up." she says with concern.

"I'm working on it." says Sam, remaining in contact with the team on board the ship, "Guys hurry we're out of time." she shouts.

The wake from the approaching rock causes the Lelantos to vibrate and shake increasingly violently, "Beam us out!." says Mitchell.

"Just a little further, I've almost got a lock." says Sam.

"I'm losing it." shouts Alisana, her arms weakening under the pressure until finally she can't take anymore and the force overpowers her and pushes her, Daniel and Celli off their feet and on to their backs on a pile on the floor.

"Now, Colonel!" shouts Swanson, standing over Sam.

The team finally make it clear of the interference and the sensors get a lock, "Got 'em!" shouts Sam, bashing the console with her palm and initiating transport, four beams of light appear on the bridge and within seconds, as the lights fades, Teal'c, Mitchell, Vala and Jack are standing in front of them.

Celli managed to free herself after being squashed underneath Daniel and she clambers back to her console and in to her seat, "Fifteen seconds to impact." she shouts, reading the data on her screen.

"Get us out of here, Now!" orders Swanson.

"Initiating evasive manoeuvres." says Sam.

The rock speeds towards the Lelantos at an incredible velocity and within seconds collides with the ship and begins to crush it like a tin can, "I'm reading a massive energy build-up coming from within the ship." says Celli, Sam pilots the Alliance away from the debris field and initiates hyperspace engines, the Lelantos explodes in to a massive ball of light just as the ship lines up with the hyperspace window.

As the engines pulse to enter hyperspace the Alliance is knocked out of alignment by the shock wave of the blast and they're all tossed around like rag-dolls.

The shock wave from the explosion fades and then a brief white flash appears, followed by the opening of a strange anomaly where the Lelantos once was, like a black hole it emits a powerful gravitational vacuum and begins to suck all the debris and rocks in towards it and they circle around the anomaly like a whirlpool.

The Alliance is also caught in the gravitation pull and whirls around with the debris being pulled towards the anomaly, the rocks being smaller and lighter than the Alliance are moving faster and as a result they begin to bombard the ships shields like tiny bombs.

However, luck seems to be on their side when a large rock strikes the shields by the left-rear engine with a strong enough impact to knock the Alliance spinning away from the anomaly.

When the ship settles in space, Jack props himself up behind Sam's console, "Sam, you alright?" he asks.

Sam was strapped in to her seat and apart from being shook up she feels fine, "I'm fine."

"Report!" says Swanson, climbing back in to her chair.

"We were thrown clear of the anomaly. Damage reports are beginning to come in, shields are down to fourteen percent, life support is functioning and the hyper-drive is still online." says Celli

The remaining debris and rocks are sucked in to the anomaly and then appears to swallow itself and vanishes, moments later there's another bright flash and a large object like a fireball is expelled from the light and narrowly misses the ship as it rockets away from them and vanishes in to space.

"What was that, a comet?" asks Mitchell.

"I don't know. It was moving too fast for the sensors to get a reading." says Celli.

"Who cares." says Jack, just glad to be alive, "Everyone alright?" he asks.

"I could use some medical attention now." says Alisana, being helped up by Daniel.

Daniel holds her steady until the medic comes over and he then leaves her in his capable hands, he dusts himself off and sees Vala standing looking out of the bridge window, "Vala, you alright?" he asks.

She doesn't respond so he walks over to her, "Vala.." he says, he places his hand on her shoulder, "Its over.", he steps around in front of her and takes a shocked step back, she's lightly foaming at the mouth but even more shocking is that the veins in her neck and face are glowing orange, "Medic!, we need a medic!" he shouts in panic.

Teal'c and Mitchell run over, "What is it, Daniel-Jackson." says Teal'c, they stop when they see her face.

As Vala begins to go limp and fall back, Daniel lunges forward and grabs her, "Help me." he shouts, Mitchell stands behind her and helps lay her on the floor.

"Where the hell is the medic, MEDIC!" shouts a teary Daniel, "Vala, Vala, stay with me Vala." he says rubbing her face.

* * *

**Stargate Command: 36 hours later**

* * *

With the hyper-drive engines still functioning, the Alliance managed to make it back to Earth but made a stop two-hours in to their journey at the closest Stargate where Vala and the rest of SG-1 gated back to Earth for urgent medical assistance.

Dr Lam took charge of treating Vala and delegated the treatment of Jack and Alisanas injuries to her other capable members of medical staff, after hours of tests she has been unable to determine what is wrong with Vala, collaborating with experts around the world they have concluded that her condition is caused by an as-of-yet unidentified form of radiation which appears to have organic properties and unfortunately every anti-radiation treatment they have tried has failed to improve her condition.

Tests carried out on Jack, Teal'c and Mitchell came back clear, although they were all exposed to the smoke from the punctured cylinder on Lelantos, Vala was the only one who was exposed to the liquid core, Sam believes this is source of her condition and that because of the radiations strange organic nature is somehow bonded with Vala during transportation, she is alive but in a coma and at the rate her body is currently deteriorating Dr Lam believes she has no more than a month to live unless a treatment can be found, Daniel hasn't left her side for even a second since they got back and he remains even now at her bedside.

Alisana and Sam have been in her lab poring over all the data they collected to try and determine what exactly happened to the Lelantos, why was it built for war and who were they fighting and why, more importantly they're analyzing the Lelantos logs and data in the hope of finding out what was in the cylinder and hopefully find a cure for Vala's condition.

Alisana left the lab half an hour ago to fetch some coffee and has just returned, "Got the coffee." she says as she enters the lab and hands it to Sam, "There you go."

"Thanks." says Sam.

"Find anything?" asks Alisana.

"Nothing that will help Vala. Whatever the Lelantos was carrying in the cylinder I don't think we're going to find it here, the servers have recovered terabytes of data and there's no record of it at all." says Sam.

"Well what did you find?" asks Alisana.

"Well.." says Sam, taking a deep breath, "..the reason why it looked like Destiny is because it was the Destiny, at least that's what it was intended to be. Some of the deleted data we've recovered shows that it was renamed to the Lelantos." she adds.

"So they built it with the intention of exploring the universe and then made it in to a war ship instead." says Alisana.

"Looks that way. Still, it makes you wonder why they would need such a powerful war ship and who were they at war with." says Sam.

"Well we'll keep at it and we won't stop until we find a way to help Vala." says Alisana.

"Right, lets get back to work." says Sam, she then hunches forward slightly, "Ouch." she moans.

"Are you okay?" asks Alisana.

"Yeah I just..ouch.." moans Sam, spilling her cup on the desk and holding her stomach, "..I think my water just broke." she says.

Alisana stands from her chair, "Oh my God, is it, is it time?" she says.

"I think so." says Sam.

"I'll...I'll...what do I do?" says Alisana, panicking.

"Help me up, take me to the infirmary." says Sam.

"Right." says Alisana.

"No, call them first, let them know we're coming." says Sam.

"Right." says Alisana.

"And hurry up." says Sam.

"Right." says Alisana.

* * *

**The End**

**To be continued in my next story: The Madness**

* * *

**Vortex**

_The following is a short ending to go with this story that helps with the series plot and gives clues to what may be coming :)_

* * *

**Planet: P5C-768 (Edora)**

* * *

Garan, son of Laira, has grown in to a mature young adult and married his lovely girlfriend Naytha six years ago, they had a son and named him after the man that saved them from the fire rain several years ago, they named him Jack, he is now five years of age.

It is late on Edora and Garan is sitting on a hilltop with Jack watching the asteroids skim the atmosphere above like shooting stars, they went on a father son camping trap to celebrate Jack's birthday.

Garan hands Jack and sandwich, "Are you having a good birthday, Son?" he asks.

"Yes, Father." replies Jack.

They lay back on the grass facing the sky and eat their snacks.

"Father, where do the lights come from?" asks Jack.

"Up there in space. Space is a huge place filled with stars and planets." says Garan.

"They live in the sky?" asks Jack.

Garan laughs, "There are many planets in space just like ours and they're filled with lots of people, just like us." he says.

"Wow. Have you ever been in space, father?" asks Jack.

"No I haven't. Anyway, why would I need to go in to space, I have everything I need right here." says Garan, tickling Jack to make him laugh.

"Will the stars fall on us?" asks Jack.

"No Son. They just stay up there in the sky." says Garan.

"What about that one?" asks Jack, pointing to the sky after noticing a large star heading towards them.

"Which one Son?" ask Garan.

"Right there." says Jack.

Garan sees the star and stands up as he watches it get closer, he leans over Jack for protection when the star burst through the atmosphere and shoots overhead, landing in a field a few miles away, Garan picks up their belongings and takes Jacks hand heading back in to the woods to investigate and out of concern for his wife and safety of his village.

An hour later they reach the impact site, some of the trees are on fire and the ground is bare of grass leading to a large crater, Garan has to grab Jack when he gets too curious and tries to run towards it, "No, Son, wait. Stay close to me." he says as they slowly walk towards the crater, when they get to the top of the dirt mound edge of the crater they look down in to it and just see smoke, Garan looks down and can see foot prints in the dirt, then they both jump around after being startled by a voice.

"Hello."

Turning around they see a woman, six foot tall, elbow length red hair and covered in dirt, Garan pulls Jack close to him and covers his eyes with his hand, "Father, she's naked." says Jack.

"Quiet, Son." says Garan, "I am Garan, I do not recognize you from our village. Who are you?" he asks.

The woman remains quiet and just looks curiously back at him.

"Where did you come from?" asks Garan.

The woman simply points to the crater.

"Who are you. What's your name?" asks Garan.

The woman slides her eyes to the side in thought, then sharply looks back at him.

"..Neringa." she says.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. See you next time :)**


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